With Age Comes Graying Barbs
by Lightning-Dono
Summary: (SonicRatchet and Clank Crossover) Sonic and Qwark somehow know each other, but since Qwark's last visit Sonic has been growing a bit old...


**Lightning-Dono**: Oh, the things that can happen when I get inspiration from someplace that I hardly know...  
  
This fanfic takes place a few years after Sonic's last successful heroic attempt.   
  
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Sonic was sitting quietly on a rock one day - a most unusual action that no one had ever seen him do. Mope.   
  
Sticking his finger in the dirt around him, he drew out a deliberate picture of a friend that he had met so long ago that it was hard to remember even what he looked like.   
  
"Oh, Qwark, how I wish to speak to you again," he sighed. Unfortunately, Tails heard this wish as he was standing right behind the rock, leaning over Sonic's shoulder. Somehow, Sonic had blocked out all surroundings and interruptions as he lazed about, running his finger through the soft ground to create muscle bulges on Captain Qwark's sides.   
  
"What are you doing?" Tails demanded, his two tails swishing about dangerously.  
  
"I'm thinking," Sonic replied, his voice muffled as one hand was covering his mouth.   
  
"Well, yeah, but why about HIM?" The golden-brown fox jabbed a finger accusingly towards the large sketch on the ground. Then, as a small comment, he muttered, "I wish you'd sketch me instead of some ugly, fat guy..." He had gained a permanent dislike of huge people due to Eggman.   
  
"Blame the fat guys." Tails had told everyone whenever something turned up missing or there was a crime committed. This statement ended up rousing up the whole population of fat people and they started to ambush Tails whenever he even did as much as step outside. That was reason enough for Sonic to just move out, so he ended up living peacefully in a cottage that resided in a very wonderful countryside. But that's not the point.  
  
"He's not fat. It's muscle," Sonic told his young companion as though in a trance.   
  
Tails thought this over, thinking of an answer that would knock Sonic back onto his feet and make him start running again. After all, over the last few days, Tails discovered that Sonic wanted to become a sloth and lie around all day. He wasn't going to let this happen.  
  
"He's still awfully big, though," he said indifferently, kneeling down by Sonic as though about to perform a special sacrifice.   
  
Sonic sighed impatiently and got up on his feet. Tails almost started yelling out of pure joy that his friend was finally coming back to his senses. Well, the reason he didn't was because Sonic had just decided right then to stand up, stretch, and sit back down. That was when Tails' keen eyes spotted a graying spot on the tip of Sonic's barbs.  
  
"Time sure has taken it's toll on you," he remarked, plucking a three-leaf clover from the ground. Sonic glanced back at Tails and frowned.  
  
"What do you mean by that? I'm as young as ever!" But this was clearly wrong, as when Sonic got back up again to run in place, he nearly broke his back. Well, there was a loud crack when he started.   
  
"Your barbs are turning gray," Tails said, stifling a laugh.   
  
"Liar," Sonic said viscously, something he had never told Tails. The fox seemed unperturbed by this comment.   
  
"Go look in a mirror. I'd best be going now," Tails concluded simply, getting up and striding down the hill with a strange sense of pride that he had never felt when he was around Sonic.   
  
Sonic sat back down and looked at his arms and noticed that there was a slight sagging to them. He tugged at the sagging skin with disgust. "Am I really that old?"   
  
Back at his cottage a few hours later, Sonic was busy inspecting his barbs.   
  
"They're not turning gray," Sonic muttered, annoyed. That was when he noticed a huge stretch of gray on his bottom barb. He started to panic greatly. "No, this is not good!" He said, bouncing from foot-to-foot like a court jester.  
  
The door behind him slowly creaked open and in stepped Knuckles, who looked a bit out of place due to the blue furniture and indigo walls.   
  
"Can I have a word?" he grunted, glaring at all of Sonic's blue things with great dislike.  
  
"Sure," Sonic said, turning around quickly so Knuckles would notice the gray barb.  
  
"Eggman is at large again," Knuckles said heavily, still standing by the door as though the blue carpet might be poisonous.   
  
"Oh, not again!" Sonic pouted. "I can't go outside looking like this!" Knuckles surveyed Sonic with great interest.  
  
"Looking like that? You always looked like that. Now get out here and help me!" He raised his fists threateningly. "Unless, of course, you want to miss out on all the action."  
  
It was too much for Sonic to take. He had never been known to skip out on something that involved Eggman and world domination. "Okay, okay...Let me just get out my running shoes..." Sonic edged along the wall stealthily, making sure not to let Knuckles see the gray spot. If he did, Knuckles would probably make him the laughing stock of the whole media! And that wouldn't exactly be pleasurable.   
  
A few minutes later, he walked over to Knuckles.   
  
"Okay, I'm ready to rock!" Sonic yelled with false enthusiasm. Knuckles nodded.  
  
"Good. Let's go."   
  
The whole time that they walked, Sonic clutched his bottom spike with one hand while the other swung by his side.   
  
"Your barb hurts?" Knuckles asked with half as much concern as Sonic would've wanted. Sonic shook his head furiously and continued on through the maze of tall grass and rocks that led them to the city.  
  
"Then why are you holding it like that?" he asked suspisciously, narrowing his eyes at the lone figure that was wandering off somewhere else while grasping onto his barb. "And pay attention to where you're going!" Sonic stumbled over a log.   
  
"There is nothing wrong and if you don't- Wh-Whoa!" Sonic fell flat on his face in a pile dung?  
  
"Sorry, some people have been breeding cows here," Knuckles said calmly, lifting Sonic off the ground roughly. There was a brief pause. Sonic waited for a comment about the graying barb while Knuckles stared at it in absolute terror.  
  
"Y-You're getting older!" The echidna gasped. This wasn't exactly what Sonic had been hoping for.  
  
"I'm glad you've noticed that," Sonic said, looking disgruntled as he attempted to wipe off the foul-smelling goop.   
  
"Sonic...You can't be a hero anymore!" Knuckles said very loudly, trying to sound disappointed. This was the moment he had anticipated for! Finally he would become the main hero; the idol of everyone on Mobius. Or, whoever supported the good guys, of course.   
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I'm going to be hero!" Said a goofy voice from behind him. Sonic and Knuckles stopped gawking at each other long enough to turn around and see a massive figure looming over them... 


End file.
